Monday, January 25, 2016

Latin America: The Untapped Potential of Geothermal Energy

With the reduction in demand in the oil market, the geothermal industry could be the main energy supplier

Latin America has enormous geothermal potential accounting for about 15% of worldwide geothermal capacity. Mexico tops the list, one of the countries worldwide with the highest geothermal capacity. Each approach to the development of the entire region differs markedly: Costa Rica and El Salvador want to increase capacity primarily through the public sector; Nicaragua and Guatemala want to use private sector development and are willing to develop and follow models of public-private partnerships.

There is a need in the medium and long term to optimize and diversify energy generation. With the reduction in demand in the oil market, the geothermal industry could be the main beneficiary, explains Juan Garcia, Project Manager of Consejo Nacional de Energía in El Salvador.

Within this context, one of the key issues discussed by experts from CAF - the Development Bank of Central America at the Central America and Caribbean Geothermal Congress (GEOLAC 2015), was whether private companies will partner with governments to seize this opportunity to increase large-scale geothermal power generation in the region .